Page 14 of Her Alien Prince
I couldn't believe what I was hearing. Was he saying he'd allow Luan to be the new "queen" and be Almder for both planets? He would step aside?
"This is not a play for 'power', Mabel, this is a stride towards peace and 'survival'. And I am at the mercy of your decision to allow me the chance to prove it."
Proof... that word again. I shook my head in disbelief. There was no "proof" of intentions but his actions, and if I allowed him that chance that was also allowing for the chance to prove otherwise, and there was so much as stake. An entire planet. No, two planets, two species...
Yet, I had already made my decision when I sat down. I felt it in my bones.
I acquiesced, "Luan would make a wonderful queen." She was dedicated, understanding, and even with her distaste for krelins she would be fair. I dared to think that she'd even grow to love the krelins as much as estrelds with her big heart, if they proved to be as decent as Trent appeared to be.
It was possible I was making the one decision that damned my whole planet, but I trusted him. I didn't know why... but I did. Tapping my implant was all I needed to do for Trent's shoulders to relax, his reflection seen in the window to the vast darkness of space with only a few distant twinkles and the cusp of the largest moon seen at the frame. I had disconnected my comm from the shuttle, and the flight plan was already set to bring me back to the planet after dropping off Gaven and Trent. They wouldn't be exiting, but there was nothing I needed to do but wait.
Gaven made grunts occasionally, but didn't fully wake yet, the only noise on the shuttle until the compression valves sounded, and the whirring of engines engaged to bring us back to Estreldez. After the initial thrusters, the shuttle conserved energy to simply utilize inertia to get us the rest of the way, there was no need to hurry the transport unless I informed Hazel what was going on. An eerie silence unnerved me, making me question my decision.
Before I could think on it further, Trent spoke, "When you are not interrogating prospective mates, what is it that you do?"
"I do data analysis, trying to find any correlations between subjects’ answers and spawn rates. Then I take those theories and hone in my questionnaires, as well as propose different tests to disprove those theories."
He chuckled and I watched as he adjusted forward to lean on his knees from the window reflection. His wings shimmered from the light above us before he folded them behind, disappearing with their camouflaged iridescence. I was fixated on him, but thankfully he shouldn't know that since it was only his darkened mirrored self that I had to focus on to see amongst the viscous black thickness of space that at any other time would have been enough of a distraction to get lost in. "I shouldn't have assumed you might enjoy doing something for yourself in your off time."
"What is that supposed to mean?" I bristled. My job was very important and of course I did things other than work... sometimes. I hung out with Luan... though she's been distracted lately with researching different solutions to the food shortages. According to our last conversation about it, she was desperate enough to arrange a meeting with our most dangerous mining camps to see how we can increase Glorbin Flower extraction to feed people. It wasn't an especially tasty source of nutrition, and there was an abundance of it that would solve food shortages, but it wasn't safe to harvest.
"I like to make nectar when I am home," he maneuvered around my question, and I was too flummoxed by his candid conversation to keep being irritated. Imagining him brewing krell nectar was calming. A large warrior taking the time to hand measure his ingredients, delicately stirring the mulch over a fire, and ladling out the syrup brought a smile to my face. I buried my mouth into my elbow to hide my enjoyment of such a thought. There were automated facilities for krell nectar, but the process was a painstakingly delicate process that took patience and care when making it at home. I even thought for a moment, perhaps he was bad at making nectar and just enjoyed the process like a meditation.
My guard lowered, I turned to face him. "I keep a secret stash of nectar in my quarters. Different brews, but I always have to wait a long time for one with my favorite flavor."
"They all taste fairly similar, don't they?" he joked. Krell nectar wasn't popular on Estreldez. I always had to bribe one of the advisors on trade duty to negotiate for some of the more rare kinds, before I met Chief Ong. Krelis included a few batches with every trade as part of their customs, and Almder never really negotiated for more. What was brought was what we got.
"You have got to be kidding," I balked in jest, but a bit of seriousness as well, "Sure they all 'taste' the same, but each brew has a different kind of afterflavor on your tongue depending on what was used in the brew." That was because the main ingredient in nectar was so strong that it overpowered all other flavors that might have happened, so most brews don't even try to do much different, but each facility did something different that caused a different aftertaste that I noticed right away.
"Not many know this. So, then what is this afterflavor you like best?"
"It tastes sweet, like candy but with a heated kick. I like the headiness of it, but I have no idea what it is, because I haven't really tasted anything else like it, and off brand nectar doesn't label its ingredients."
"Ah, so you've been importing some of the home brews that circulate then?"
"I guess I have." The momentary distraction from what was happening was welcomed but didn't last long. Home. It simply reminded me that mine was not guaranteed, nor was my future. It was a sobering thought.
Sensing my unease he said, "It's unusual for someone not krelin to care for more than what nectar can do for a person. It eases the mind, and the soul, but there is an ingredient within each batch not discussed on any label." I leaned in eager to know what secrets were held in the nectar. It had always soothed me when I drank it at the end of the light cycle. "There is a reason why they call it Krelis Nectar, one of its key ingredients is from our blood."
I gasped, covering my mouth with my own hands as if that would put the words he said back into his lungs where they would never be uttered again.
He continued, "It's why the factory nectar has a different aftertaste, as you call it, the factory uses many krelins to develop and brew the nectar... so the aftertaste is so diverse and yet somehow bland because of it. It isn't what gives the nectar it's calming effects, it is merely that our blood nullifies the poisonous effect of the toxin that is the main ingredient, and so happens to also give it the aftertaste you describe."
"I've been," I stammered, "drinking krelin blood..."
"That isn't as bad as the hewve lard Estreldez begs us to export...for consumption." He wrinkled his nose in disgust, "Absolutely repulsive."
I lifted a hand to stop him from continuing. "I don't want to know... I only tried it once and never ate it again..." Though, he was right... most estrelds thought the hewve lard was tastier than the jewels they ate regularly. The lard was added into most meals for flavor and extra fat stores to make the food hardier. I avoided it at all costs... it gave everything a gross gritty feel. The way he said the word consumption had me thinking even though the hewve lard was an export for them, it was never intended as food. Squinting through my own scrunched up face, I dared to ask, "What is hewve lard's actual purpose for krelins?"
"We use it to fortify our hive. It's an affective means of preserving stone and adding insolation against the mountain winds."
"But, I don't want to know where it comes from..."
He smiled. "No, it's best that you don't. Though, I will say this was explained to Estreldez several times during negotiations, and if you're ever curious... the records are probably held somewhere as to what hewve lard is and how it's produced."
"No," I quickly snapped, mostly to tell myself not to become curious. I was always one to ask questions, and even now, repeating the word, no, in my mind didn't sway my unruly brain from thoughts of obtaining those records for later. "No, some things are best kept a mystery. All I need to know is the compound was scanned by scientists to show it is not harmful, and in fact, has many healthy, and desperately needed, nutrients to help sustain estrelds." Again, I repeated this to myself, hoping that would stop me from researching the file on hewve lard.
My brows furrowed in concentration to distract myself, which only led me back to thinking about devastation and war... I slumped in my chair, defeated. I'd been drinking the blood of a species bent on forcing their way into the lives of estrelds, whether that was by mating... or spilling our blood for something other than Krelin Nectar.
